Operation Laser Kiwi: help us take New Zealand-made energy on the road
Winter cold snaps led to the country hitting record electricity usage multiple times at the start of this month with eight of the 10 highest demand periods in history reached in the first two weeks of August. It's driven calls to speed up consumers' ability to feed back into the grid via their electric vehicles. And to pay households for cutting electricity use at peak times. Bruce Fowler from NordEast and Margaret Cooney from Octopus talk to Kathryn Ryan.
Retailer Octopus offered its customers cash for every kilowatt-hour they saved, during some of the biggest peaks this month.
A current barrier to getting EVs involved is the carmaker's warranty, which restricts two-way usage of the battery.
One of the country's major EV importers and distributors, NordEast, a subsidiary of the Giltrap Group, is underwriting the warranties for cars in a trial in Queenstown, being run by EECA.
Kathryn speaks to Bruce Fowler from NordEast and Margaret Cooney from Octopus.
People installing solar power systems with batteries on their homes, hoping to avoid the disruption of a power cut, are being told to check with the installer that the battery can provide that protection.
Read moreDownloadKiwis are catching on to the benefits of solar panels - and demand's spiking ... But the industry warns we need about six thousand more trained electricians - across the country - to do the work. Rewiring Aotearoa Chief Executive, Mike Casey told Heather du Plessis-Allan he hopes interest will continue over time. He says oil shortages because of the Iran war is keeping demand high - with energy prices climbing. He says solar is the one reprieve Kiwis get.
Roger Robson-Williams owns 20% of New Zealand's electric tractor fleet. That sounds impressive, until you learn there are only five of them. But, like his fellow electric tractor enthusiast Mike Casey, he's on a mission to change that by providing a bit of inspiration and information.
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